Another short chapter. I'm trying to get this story finished up as quickly as I can so that I can put more of my Transformers Prime inspiration to… pause for dramatic effect… THE SEQUEL TO HYBRID THEORY! Yes, that's right, you read correctly. I'm currently working on it, but I probably won't post anything up until I've finished Convoy and mostly finished my Transformers Diaries: Kindred Sparks story. Sorry. I'd love to post it up sooner for you guys, but so far I only have the first chapter done, the ending figured out, and I need some time to plan how I get from that to that. So yeah. So far, I got the feeling that the sequel won't be as long as its predecessor. Frag. -_-'

I do not own Transformers or anything in relation. I only own Hunter, the Hybrid race, and any other character that you may not recognize.

X-Ray Dog; Cyberworld

5

Ω A New Kind of Enemy Ω

Hunter sat quietly in her spark-father's passenger seat, keeping her back turned towards Fowler as to discourage any conversation. She wasn't really up for talking to the man and apparently, since he wasn't asking her any questions or filling her in on anything government or military related, that was fine by him. There was nothing to break the silence except for the sound of Optimus' engine and the hum of his tires on the road. Occasionally there was the chatter of the team over the comm., but other than that it was quiet. As she watched the scenery slip by, Hunter found herself becoming tired. She didn't know why, but there was just something about riding with her father that always made her feel so sleepy. Maybe it was the fact that she knew she was safe within the warmth of his cab because he was, literally, all around her. Maybe it was the way he hugged her close with his seatbelt, making it feel like she was being held in his arms. Maybe it was the fact that, through the rumble of his engine and the din of his tires, she could pick up the steady, soothing beat of his spark, and his spark always had a talent for lulling her to sleep. Maybe it was all of these things combined. Either way, the teenager was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open.

Ever so slowly, Hunter's eyes drifted shut, and then her head slowly came to a rest against the seat. Her breathing slowed to a restful rate.

"HOOOOONNNNNK!"

If Hunter hadn't been wearing her seatbelt, she would've hit her head on the roof of the cab she jumped so high. Wide awake now, the sixteen-year-old whipped her head around to death glare at the government agent. "Primus! The frag is your damage, Fowler?"

Fowler ignored her and simply continued to honk the horn, glaring out the windshield at a beat-up, dirty old pickup as he did. "Move it, Gramps!" he bellowed, slamming his fist into the steering wheel.

The teen prickled and snarled at the action, using all of the willpower she could muster up to not simply reach over there and rip the man's hand right off. She knew that the action wouldn't hurt him, but she didn't like it when somebody—anybody—hit her father. That was one of the reasons why the 'Cons got torn up so badly when they fell into her hands. Fowler would do well to make note of that.

After a few more blasts from their horn, the beater in front of them finally decided to pull off to the side of the road and let them pass.

Hunter silently thanked the driver, believing that to be the end of the ordeal. But, oh, how wrong she was.

Even as they left the pickup in the dust, Fowler continued to blast the horn… and there wasn't even anybody ahead of them yet! Talk about road-rage!

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Hunter growled. Fowler was seriously starting to make her hate the sound of her own father's horn and that was not okay! "I'm gonna kill him," she thought to herself. "I don't care how much like a Decepticon that makes me sound. I. Am. Going. To. KILL HIM!" Fowler continued to blow the horn and Hunter continued to get more and more fed up with it. Finally she snapped. "ENOUGH!" she fumed, whipping back around to face the man once more, eyes the slightest bit crazy. "I swear you honk one more time, you're making the return trip in a body bag!"

Fowler scowled at her, but did stop honking the horn… for the moment. "What's your deal, James?" he demanded.

"Your friggin' road-rage is what!" Hunter snapped. "Let me ask you something, Fowler. Have you ever thought that maybe—just maybe—this is part of the reason why nobody likes you? You're a worse crab than Ratchet!"

/You're a worse crab than Ratchet!/ Hunter's voice sounded over the comm-system at the base.

"Well, I never!" Ratchet huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's true, doc 'bot," Miko pointed out taciturnly.

The amber and white medic made an indignant noise.

"B-but," Raf jumped in quickly, "Hunter did say that Fowler was a worse crab than you."

"So, compared to Fowler, Hunter likes you better," Jack summed up.

Ratchet just gave them a glare.

Miko snorted. "Kiss ups."

"Oh-ho, really?!" Fowler laughed cynically. "Well, I got news for you Hybrid…"

"Enough!" Optimus suddenly broke into the conversation, voice thundering through the cab. His nerves were already a bit frayed from Fowler blasting his horn, and this arguing was not helping in the least bit. The mech sighed heavily. "Her brashness aside, Agent Fowler," he began again, calmer this time, "Hunter makes a fair point. Is the use of my horn really necessary?"

Groaning, Fowler slumped back in the seat once again, looking rather dejected. "Aww, don't tell me you're one-a them textbook drivers," he moaned. Almost pouting, the man looked away from the dash and crossed his arms over his chest as he made a loud and disgusted "hmph!"

Hunter couldn't help but snicker.

"I heard that," Fowler informed her.

"Kinda the point," she shot back.

Minutes turned into hours as the convoy drove on, steadily getting closer to their destination… wherever the heck that was. Hunter didn't know. She hadn't asked and nobody had told her specifically. All she knew is that it was absolutely taking forever to get there, and that she was seriously starting to get bored. She didn't do well without stimulation for too long—it was all part of how her processor was wired. It didn't help that Fowler was there either, and not just in the 'he's-an-annoying-jerk' way either. Whenever she and Optimus would drive together they would always talk. It didn't matter about what—everything was an open topic for discussion; they kept no secrets from each other. And when they didn't talk there was always that warm comfortable silence that came from just being together to fill the space that somehow always substituted for her stimulus. With Fowler here, neither of those things were happening. And the redhead didn't dare try to take a nap again. Who knew what crazy thing he might try next?

"Ya know," the man in question suddenly spoke up, "you're savin' my bacon here, Prime."

"I am proud to be of service," the semi replied humbly.

"'Course…" Fowler went on to add.

"Here we go," Hunter mumbled, already knowing what he was going to say.

"…not like I'd need your help if you and the 'Cons had stuck to tearing up your own corner of the galaxy."

"Yep," Hunter replied, giving the agent the stink eye. "And right there is another perfect example of why nobody likes you."

Fowler snarled.

"Are you suggesting that no evil existed on your world before we arrived?" Optimus inquired of the agent, drawing his attention back away from the girl.

Smirking, Hunter crossed her arms over her chest, crossed her legs, and leaned back in her seat, giving Fowler a look. "Let's see ya answer that one, bub," she silently challenged.

Knowing he was in the hot seat now, Fowler tried to think of what to say. "Well, it was a…" the agent tried to think of how to put it, "… different evil." He quickly changed the subject. "How 'bout some radio? You seem like a Nashville-sound kinda guy."

At that, Hunter released a relieved sigh and slumped back in the seat. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "Something we can agree on." Suddenly her ears pricked a pit as her superhearing picked up something that sound a lot like… helicopter rotors? Sitting straight up she looked towards Fowler's side where the sound was coming from. "We got company," she informed the males, growling a little bit.

Fowler raised an eyebrow at her, but looked out his window just the same and turned his gaze skyward. Sure enough, there was a helicopter hovering over them. He snarled and pointed. "That's the one!" he exclaimed. "The 'con who shot me down! Who is he? Wingnut? Dingbat? Skyguy?"

Suddenly Bulkhead's voice came in over the comm. /Watch your rearviews,/ he warned.

Taking his advice, Hunter turned and looked in her mirror. Sure enough, a squad of green colored cars was coming up behind them. Wait—green? She watched on as a few of the cars boxed Bulkhead in.

/Feeling a little constricted without the use of my fists here, boss,/ Bulk's voice came back in over the radio.

"Remain in vehicular mode unless absolutely necessary," Optimus responded firmly.

Hunter didn't like this situation. They were on a fairly narrow, winding road with a drop-off on the left, and there were now more cars here than was safe. The thought of one of her teammates getting shoved over the side of the drop-off was just a little bit too real for her taste. However, there was just something about these cars….

"A whole team of 'cons," Fowler mused.

/What?/ Ratchet came in on the comm-link. /I'm not picking up anything. They must be utilizing a cloaking technology./

Still looking into the rearview, Hunter slowly shook her head. "Those don't look like any type of 'cons I've ever seen," she stated.

"Meaning?" Fowler asked.

Hunter met his gaze. "Eradicons would never pick a helicopter for their vehicular mode," she explained calmly. "Not enough speed and too loud. And vehicons are purple, not green."

Fowler smirked snidely. "Well, maybe they decided to get a makeover," he replied with a bit of a condescending tone. "You're a girl, you should know about that stuff."

The teen prickled. "Don't patronize me, Fowler!" she snarled, sticking her finger in his chest. All at once an electrifying chill ran up the redhead's spine causing her to arch her back and sharply gasp, the pupils of her eyes contracting to pinpoints. She flashed into her foresight and then back out. "Dad, they're not Decepticons," she declared, looking down at the semi's radio.

"What?!" Fowler screeched, still a little big freaked by what had just happened. What, was this girl possessed or something.

"Hunter, explain," Optimus said at the same time.

"They're not 'cons—not even Cybertronian," his daughter answered. "We're up against humans here."

"Yeah, right," Fowler snorted.

Hunter gave him a hard look. "It's true. I foresaw it, and my foresight doesn't make a habit of lying."

Fowler blinked at her. "'Foresaw it'?" he snagged onto it. "You gotta be kiddin' me! What are you—a Jedi?"

The Hybrid rolled her eyes. "I'm the Fuser, Fowler," she said by way of explanation. A flash of green out of the corner of her eye drew the girl's attention back around to see that one of the cars was speeding up to overtake Bumblebee who was out in front of them. "They're boxin' us in," she concluded. She looked back over to Fowler as he out his window at the car that had pulled up along their left side and was keeping pace with them.

All at once the sunroof of the car opened up and a masked man with a gun rose up out of it, pointing the weapon at Fowler. "Pull over!" he ordered.

"Now do you believe me?" Hunter questioned Fowler in an accusing tone.

Fowler only responded with a very surprised, "Well, I'll be dipped."

"You are the dip!" Hunter snapped.

Optimus opened his comm-link in order to inform the entire team of the situation. "Our assailants are not Decepticons," he announced in a grave voice. "They are human."

Okay, challenge time. I gotta admit, with everyone else from Hybrid Theory getting asked questions earlier in this story, I felt a little bit left out. I mean, they were just the characters, I'm the writer. I MADE THEM LOOK GOOD. Without me they would have been nothing!

Hybrid Cast: HEY!

SHUT UP! You all know it's true! Anyway, I'm opening this up so that you can ask me questions about anything and everything whether it pertains to fanfiction or entirely different matters. Everything is open for discussion—ask away! I just ask that you please don't ask me to read/review a story or ask me to write a story as a request because those types of things make me feel very uncomfortable and when I'm uncomfortable that isn't fair to you because then I'm not at my best and won't do my best. So please just keep these interview style questions. Thanks. (Sorry I went on a little bit of a narcissistic power trip there….)